Trump signs veterans benefits order calling for improved data sharing

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday afternoon that seeks to give veterans quicker access to benefits and services by enhancing data sharing between the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs, requiring a review of relevant information technology contracts and deploying new digital tools to process claims.

The order gives the Department of Defense 30 days to ensure all current servicemembers’ military personnel files, health records and service treatment records are shared with the VA as soon as they are released or discharged from military service. It currently takes 90 to 180 days for records to be exchanged when service members transition to civilian life because of legacy systems, according to a White House fact sheet.

The directive instructs DOD and VA to create guidance and information technology systems within 180 days that would ensure the “permanent, prospective and ongoing sharing” of records from the moment an individual enters military service until they no longer need VA benefits. 

Enhanced data sharing between the two departments could help veterans receive benefits more quickly.

VA has reduced the amount of time it takes to process disability claims from 141.5 days to 76.1 days on average under the second Trump administration, according to a Tuesday VA press release. Sharing military records between DOD and VA could trim the average processing time by another 20 to 30 days, the release added.

“Giving VA continuous access to warfighters’ military records will eliminate weeks of waiting for Veterans applying for VA healthcare and financial benefits,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a statement. “We want to make the transition from military to Veteran status as seamless as possible, and we look forward to working with President Trump and Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth to do just that.”

The order also gives DOD and VA 120 days to conduct a review of existing information technology systems and software contracts. The analysis — in collaboration with the Health and Human Services Department and the Office of Management and Budget — will include a mandate that IT systems be interoperable with systems for military personnel, health records and service treatment records, according to the order. 

The directive tasks DOD with updating relevant programs — including the Transition Assistance Program — within 180 days. 

A DOD spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while a VA spokesperson pointed to the press release.

In addition to interoperability, the order tasks the two departments with deploying artificial intelligence and emerging technologies that would streamline veterans’ applications for benefits within 180 days. The digital tools would come in a “comprehensive single source” and include job training opportunities offered by the Labor Department, the order added.

VA is already using AI and automation to speed up veterans' claims processing. Democrats are concerned that those technologies are leading to greater errors in benefits processing, but VA officials have denied those charges and emphasized that human reviewers make final claims decisions rather than AI.